Vice President Andrew Johnson was sworn into the office of president on April 15, 1865, following the assassination (murder) of President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865; see entry in volume 2). The Civil War (1861-65) was over, and the task of reuniting the Northern and Southern states was ahead. Lincoln had selected Johnson as his vice president in 1864 partly as a symbolic gesture— Lincoln was a Northern Republican, Johnson a Southern Democrat. He also chose Johnson for his excellent political record.

Attempting to follow the course Lincoln set for reunifying (reuniting) the nation, Johnson was frustrated by the attitudes of Northern politicians and by discrimination against former slaves in the South. Unable to forge a strong core of support, Johnson was overwhelmed by congressmen intent on punishing the South over the war and expanding their own influence over national policies. Johnson's struggles against a mighty Congressional majority nearly led to...